New York Times highlights Bluegrass Institute, ‘liberty movement’

(Bowling Green, Kentucky) – The Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky’s free-market think tank, is featured in a story in today’s New York Times that chronicles the impact of state policy groups in advancing liberty across the nation.

The 1,900-word illustrated story by New York Times reporter Jason DeParle notes the Bluegrass Institute’s success in addressing some of Kentucky’s most pressing problems by promoting lower taxes, less spending and genuine education reform.

“We are thrilled the New York Times chose to report on our work,” said Bluegrass Institute president Christopher J. Derry. “By making government smaller, we hope Kentucky becomes a more prosperous place for people to live and work.”

The story, which has a Bowling Green dateline, tells how Derry left a successful sales career to start the institute after the Bowling Green City Commission ignored his plea not to raise taxes in 2003.

It relates how he was challenged by Lawrence Reed, president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Michigan, to champion the cause of liberty in the commonwealth.

“I was hooked,” Derry told the Times. “People were so helpful, I couldn’t believe it.”